Creating lifelong learners at Red Mill Elementary

RED MILL —Dr. Michelle Miller is the new principal of Red Mill Elementary School, leaving her position as assistant principal at Alanton Elementary to take the position. Miller has replaced Dr. Steven Scarcelli, who retired.

Miller has been spending the summer meeting with teachers and staff, preparing for her new role.

“It’s been busy,” she said. “I am really looking forward to it.”

Red Mill is a good fit, Miller said, because of its strong commitment between the parents and the community, and her philosophy of creating lifelong learners.

She is one herself.

Miller developed a wide range of interests, she said, as she advanced her education and in her career. She started with bachelor’s degree in English education from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, after which she taught high school and middle school English in Tennessee in the early 2000s.

During that time, she also completed her master’s in K-12 education from Lincoln Memorial University and an endorsement in library media from the University of West Georgia.

“I do enjoy teaching,” Miller said, “and I have a strong interest in technology and media research” in the academic setting.

Miller became a library media specialist before moving from Tennessee to Virginia Beach in 2004, when she began her doctorate in education in K-12 administration at Regent University.

During that time, she worked as a library media specialist for Princess Anne Middle School, then as an instructional technology coordinator for the Virginia Beach public school system.

She became the assistant principal at White Oaks Elementary School in 2011, and moved last year to Alanton Elementary School in the same position.

As the principal of Red Mill, Miller said her main goal is to create a learning environment that develops the whole child; she especially appreciates how that is accomplished in elementary school, where children’s social and emotional development emerges.

“I still get to interact with the children,” she said. “I’ve been missing that aspect of teaching. I still teach, but mostly adults now.”